CS473 - IT: Management for Business Project

Aims and Objectives

The module aims to develop participants' project management skills and advance their practical understanding of IT and management for business within a work-related project.

Participants are required to undertake a significant individual work-based project with minimal supervision in an area related to IT and management for business that is relevant to their job role.

Learning Outcomes

During the module, participants will:

• Apply analytical and practical skills gained earlier in the programme.
• Synthesise information, ideas and practice, to develop a quality solution.
• Manage and execute a significant individual work-based project, with minimal supervision, within a field of IT and management for business agreed in discussion with the academic “client”/supervisor and the apprentice’s employer.
• Communicate project progress, business and technical information, and project outcomes in formal written format.
• Critically evaluate the project process and outcomes.
• Specify, design, test and implement (if appropriate) solution(s) appropriate to the (project) task and business domain.
• Demonstrate achievement of related professional competencies associated with the IT: Management for Business programme.

Syllabus

The project is a piece of individual work completed under supervision. Apprentices will be allocated a supervisor (an academic).

For British Computer Society accreditation, it is expected that within an undergraduate programme, students will undertake a major computing project, normally in their final year and normally as an individual activity, giving them the opportunity to demonstrate:

• their ability to apply practical and analytical skills present in the programme as a whole
• innovation and/or creativity
• synthesis of information, ideas and practices to provide a quality solution together with an evaluation of that solution
• that their project meets a real need in a wider context
• the ability to self-manage a significant piece of work
• critical self-evaluation of the process

During term 1 (mid September- early December), apprentices will identify a project in consultation with their line manager and academic supervisor. They will be required to write a project scope document including the background and context, the project objectives, the project scope, the project risks and assumptions, a project plan outlining the key dates and milestones, the people supporting the project, and a commentary as to how the project will enable the apprentice to demonstrate that they meet the professional competencies associated with the IT: Management for Business programme.

A draft project scope document is to be submitted in term 1, week 7, and the final version is due at the beginning of week 13.

Once the project has been approved, work on the project will take place in terms 2 and 3 (January - March, and mid-April - early July, respectively). Apprentices will be required to submit a project progress report (worth 10%) in week 9 of term 2. The final project report (worth 60%), and competency report (worth 30%) will be submitted in week 11 of term 3.

Recommended Reading

This list is indicative only – the class lecturer may recommend alternative reading material. Please do not purchase any of the reading material listed below until you have confirmed with the class lecturer that it will be used for this class.

Last updated: 2025-08-06 09:59:59